1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image display technique for an ophthalmic image pickup apparatus, and more particularly relates, though not exclusively, to an image display technique for a fundus camera.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a conventional ophthalmic image pickup apparatus (e.g., a fundus camera), an image pickup device (e.g., an area CCD) is used to record a fundus image, which is then recorded on a storage medium (e.g., an optical disk). The stored fundus image can then be displayed.
In another conventional system, a fundus image is transmitted to a personal computer (PC) (e.g., via USB port, or a network), so that the PC can record or display the fundus image.
Advancements in image pickup technology has outpaced information transfer and storage/access speeds so that too much time is required for recording, displaying and transferring a fundus image. Therefore, in order to reduce the processing time, an image compression technique, such as JPEG, is employed, or as discussed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. Hei 6-98859, only required data, selected from among fundus image data, are transmitted.